NEUMAYER supports employees’ voluntary work

Social cohesion arises where people take responsibility for each other. This commitment is particularly indispensable in civil protection, for example in the fire department, rescue services or aid organizations. It is therefore all the more important that voluntary work and everyday working life can be reconciled.

In 2024, Richard Neumayer GmbH was recognized by the state of Baden-Württemberg as an employer that supports volunteering in civil protection. With this award, the state recognizes companies that actively support their employees in volunteering, for example through flexible leave for assignments or support for training and further education. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl emphasized at the award ceremony that voluntary service and the economy belong together. Without voluntary commitment, no state can be made, especially in civil protection. Values such as cohesion, reliability and team spirit are the basis for a functioning society – and it is precisely these values that are lived out in voluntary work every day.

For Neumayer, supporting voluntary commitment is a matter of course. Managing Director Thomas Armbruster knows the commitment from his own experience: As a former member of the volunteer fire department, he knows the contribution that rescue and aid services make to the safety of our society – for companies as well as for families.

The motto of the fire departments “Rescue – Extinguish – Recover – Protect” sums up this responsibility. Anyone who is willing to take on this task deserves support. Volunteering strengthens the community – and makes our society more resilient overall.

This is how we support our employees

Employees who are involved in civil protection are released for assignments. They are credited with the legally regulated loss of earnings. We generally grant educational leave for training and further education in voluntary work (including in areas such as sports, music, culture, etc.).

There are also joint activities. Examples of how commitment is also lived out in the team are fire drills on the factory premises or the participation of our trainees in the World Clean Up Day in Hausach.

The management also gets involved: Dirk A. Neumayer is involved in the Industrieverband Massivumformung, as an advisory board member in wvib Schwarzwald and on the board of Hausacher LeseLenz. Thomas Armbruster is an advisory board member in the Industrieverband Massivumformung and was himself an active member of the volunteer fire department for ten years.

Three volunteers in portrait

Jochen Roser – Caretaker

Jochen Roser has been involved in civil protection for many years – locally, regionally and internationally. He has been an active member of the Zell am Harmersbach fire department since 2007 and the youth fire department since 2023. As a so-called guest starter, he also supports the Hausach fire department. In addition, he has been active in international disaster control at @fire since 2020, focusing on vegetation fire fighting and rubble rescue.

His motivation is to be able to help when others are in need. Added to this is the desire to develop his professional skills and take on new challenges again and again. Because the assignments are diverse. They range from classic fire department operations in traffic accidents or fires to large-scale disaster situations at home and abroad that can last for days or weeks.

The operation during the forest fire in Saxon Switzerland in 2022, in which the emergency services fought the fire for four days with the simplest of tools, was particularly formative for him. He was very moved by the great support from the population, which even extended to thank-you banners in soccer stadiums.

Organizing work and volunteering requires a lot of coordination. Open communication within the company is all the more important for him. The skills learned in voluntary work – teamwork, sense of responsibility, resilience and clear communication – also have a positive effect on everyday work. Conversely, he brings his technical understanding and his structured way of working from his job into the operational work.

Sandra Wöhrle – Financial Accounting

Sandra Wöhrle worked as a lay judge at the juvenile court in Offenburg from 2019 to 2023 and has been a lay judge at the Offenburg District Court since 2024. Her motivation for this voluntary work is characterized by interest and a sense of responsibility. She wants to understand why courts, judges or judges make decisions the way they are made – even if they do not correspond to her own gut feeling. “It’s about classifying facts, taking different perspectives into account and making decisions on a well-founded basis,” she says. She has particularly fond memories of a case from her time as a lay judge: a young offender who had been traveling alone for days at the age of eleven, without any support from his family environment. This experience has shown her how complex life situations can be and that there is often a long history behind an act.

From her voluntary work, she takes with her not to judge rashly, to look at facts from different angles and to evaluate decisions in a differentiated way. This also shapes her everyday working life.

Thimo Letzeisen – Head of Operational Logistics

Thimo Letzeisen has been involved with the German Red Cross since 2003. For him, volunteering is more than just a balance. It is a meaningful hobby that contributes to a better coexistence. “It is important to me to be able to help people when they are not doing well,” he says. Most services and exercises take place in his free time. When it comes to assignments, he carefully considers whether he can participate.

The assignment during the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley was particularly formative for him. The destruction on site vividly showed him how quickly supposed self-evident things can be lost – clean water, electricity, a roof over your head – and how important humanity is in such situations. This experience has changed his view of many things in a lasting way.

The skills acquired in voluntary work also accompany him in his professional life. He has teamwork skills, a sense of responsibility and a pronounced sensitivity for situations in which quick, prudent action is required. Conversely, he brings his organizational skills from his job into his voluntary work. It is clear to him that both areas benefit from each other.

Volunteering and work: a strong connection

Whether in the fire department, the court, the rescue service, in a sports, music or art club: voluntary commitment promotes skills that are also of central importance in professional life. These include a sense of responsibility, decision-making ability, resilience, communication skills and team spirit. At the same time, voluntary work benefits from the specialist know-how, organizational experience and safety awareness that has been acquired in professional activities. Employees who take on responsibility not only strengthen society, but also the company. That is why we support this commitment out of conviction.